Where To Find Time To Express Your Creativity

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I love expressing my creativity through knitting, sewing and more . I also love expressing my creativity through making handmade gifts for others. There is just something about making a gift for someone that makes me feel closer to them.

Honestly though I rarely sit for hours and just work on a craft. In fact that type of crafting session for me only happens perhaps 3 or 4 times a year. Yet, last Christmas alone I gave away 2 hand knitted scarves, 3 pairs of fingerless gloves, a baby blanket and roughly 200 hand knitted dishcloths.

How on earth did I find the time to knit 200 dishcloths, well actually finding that many people to give them away too was harder than finding the time to knit them.

10 Ways To Find Time To Express Your Creativity

1. Keep the projects simple

This is my number one tip for those wanting to express their creativity through crafts. Stay away from complicated cable knit adult sized sweaters and instead knit a cable knit dishcloth . Stay away from complicated king size quilt patterns and make a dolly blanket, or a baby blanket. Stay away from writing a novel and instead write a short story (or at least concentrate on a chapter at a time, instead of thinking about how vast a goal a novel is). Keep to simple projects that are portable and can easily be completed here and there in a short amount of time. It is just so much more rewarding.

2. Carry a project with you everywhere

I have what I like to call craft to go bags. I have several, one for knitting dishcloths, one for locker hooking, and another one for fingerless gloves, or a scarf or whatever I crafting project I have on the go. You never know when there might be a window of time in your day to get a few rows done, or a few stitches added.

3. Use travel time

I can knit dishcloths in my sleep. My hands just seem to know what they are doing so I don’t even have to look at my needles. This makes dishcloth creation a perfect car time activity. My husband drives and I knit dishcloths. At the rate of one dish cloth an hour, I get a lot of knitting done this way.

4. Use waiting time

My daughter takes gymnastics for an hour every week. I sit in the bleachers and knit. Since I don’t have to look up all the time I can bring a more complicated project like fingerless gloves or a scarf for these times. For writing, I have a simple note pad app on my phone that I use to jot down ideas as they come to me during small waiting times that happen through the day, like those few moments waiting on my son to get out of his twice a week class.

5. Use visiting time

When my friends and I get together whether it is a meal or coffee they know I am going to come with my knitting bag in hand. If I am going to be at there home for the afternoon while kids play, then I might bring my locker hooking which requires a bit more concentration but I can still have a conversation with people while I do it.

6. Use TV time

I can knit and watch TV or a movie at the same time. I usually stick to my no brainer dishcloths so I don’t miss the action.

7. Use it as an excuse for a girls night

I haven’t done this with my group of friends in ages, but back when our children were smaller and didn’t have a million evening events that we had to drive them to and from, I would invite friends to my home once a month for a craft night. People brought a snack and whatever they were working on and just sat crafted, ate and chatted.

8. Use vacation time

Vacation time generally has more down hours than day to day life. I like to fill those with a bit of Cable TV watching and knitting, or perhaps sitting on the deck of our hotel room enjoying the view and doing a bit of writing.

9. Use it as a reward

If I am totally dreading doing a chore or task, I will tell myself “get …….done and then you can spend all Sunday afternoon crafting”. It usually works well.

10. Make it a priority

If expressing your creativity is vital to your mental well being like it is mine, you need to make sure that you do all that you can to make it a priority no matter what stage of life you are in.

For me right now with children at home, and all that comes with a family and an at home business that means I need to keep my projects small and portable so I can redeem those otherwise wasted minutes with a bit of crafting. For you that might mean something different.

If find time to express your creative in a way I didn’t mention I would love to hear about it in the comments.

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Comments

These are awesome ideas! I love the suggestion of using travel time. I used to travel from Philly-NYC for work (a 2.5 hour commute each way) and I never once did anything productive with my time on the train. I mostly slept, lol–but I guess that’s what happens when you’re working 12 hour days and travelling 5 hours/day. Looking back on it, I wish I would have been more productive!

I love this post! I always make handmade gifts for xmas, and this year I’d like to start making things now so that I’m not overwhelmed come xmas time. I like the idea of always carrying it with me, encouraging me to make it and set it aside to be eventually given away. Thanks!!

Yes, just make sure that you put the gifts you make in advance somewhere where you will remember them come Christmas time. While I was decluttering last November I found some gifts I had made the year before and had forgotten all about come Christmas time, since I had not placed them in the normal spot with the other gifts I had made ahead of time. Needless to say they became Christmas gifts a whole year later than planned. 🙂

These are good tips. I haven’t been crafty in a really long time and I feel it taking a toll–getting creative just makes me much happier and energized. I will use these tips to remind me on how to fit in time for my creativity.

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Hi, I'm Victoria

Welcome to the Snail Pace Transformations blog where I share my tips for improving finances and home management one small step at a time. Why small? Because small changes are more likely to transform your life.